Today was all about connections for Team Super. Beginning with our prep for Brilla, we worked in small groups to polish our lesson plans and make them accessible and meaningful to the students we would be working with. Hopefully the students find the lessons as exciting as we do. Lunch was an adventure as we traveled into Midtown and met up with Alums Steve and Jillian. The treated us to a fantastic lunch where we got to learn about Steve and Jillian’s history with ASB. Their advice was refreshingly honest. They spoke to us as equals and told us about how their linkage to ABS did not end with their time at Lafayette. Steve had continued his work with ASB long after graduation and was changing his career path to be a better conscience citizen. Jillian, who now teaches at a charter school in Brooklyn, gave us an opportunity to speak to an educator before going to Brilla. She gave us insight on the students, community and lives we would be interacting with. Jillian was a breath of fresh air when it came to her honest and savy tips on how to best be helpers rather than saviors.
Speaking to Steve and Jillian gave us time to reflect on ASB as a program rather than our small group. We were able to see the lasting effect ASB and these trips leave on those who are apart of them. There’s a reason we chose to come aboard these trips and its because we want to do more than just live in this world. We want to help change it. The connections we shared with Steve and Jillian helped us push forward as group and really bond. Something about seeing two former ASBers be so invested in each others lives and service was inspiring. Their passion was contagious and as we set forth on our first day at Brilla, I can only hope we are half as passionate with our work as they are with theirs.